Pathway to Japanese Literature

*100 Poems in Literary Style*

Table of Contents

Mother

Iwate Park

Election

Cliffside Barber

Festival Day (I)

Track Maintenance Worker

[The south wind's cheek turned acrid]

Taneyamagahara Plateau

Polan's Plaza

Touring Troupe

Night

Clinic

[Iodo no Nihohifuruhi Kisu]

[If one dozes upon the roadside moss...]
[Carrying Melons from Two Mountains]

[Smoke at times over hill upon hill]

[In the distance, amber hues take form]

State of Mind

Portrait

[Dawn Sleep]

[Drought Scarcity]

[In Old Age Guarding a Winter Peacock]

Old Farmer

Ukiyo-e

Dental Clinic

[When the Snow Melts from the Withered Grass]

Fallow Fields

[Through the Platinum Ring at Sky's Edge]

Early Spring

Rairaiken

Rinkan Grand Opening

Cobalt Highlands

Drought-Stricken Area

When the bell is struck—white-wood hinoki

Summit of Mount Hayachine

Social Affairs Director Mr. Tadashi Saeki

Market Day

Abandoned Mine

Sideline

Commemorative Photograph

Secret Matters Within the Pagoda

[Upon My Righteous Path]

Morning

Lewdly mocking yet cold

Gankei-retsu

Sick Engineer [1]

Acid Rainbow

Yanagisawa Field

Military Chain-Theater

Early Spring in the Gorge Valley

Short Night

[Mingling with Water Oak and Pine]

Sulfur

February

Before Sunrise

Summit of Mount Iwate

In the Carriage [2]

Monster Quarry

Reclaimed Land Risen

[Uguisujuku: this moonlit night when snow seems to fall]

Koushi

[Gong and Signboard Trombone]

[Ancient Koutou Teisai]

Nirvana Hall

Wild Horse [2]

Giant Pig

Vista

Mountain Azalea

[Where Light Quivers—Seismic Groans]
Nation

[Beyond the fence—could that be Katoji?]

Four O'Clock

Woolen Fabric Sale

Twelfth Month

[Having Kicked Away the Tengu Mushrooms]

Ox

Secret Rites Master [2]

[Carrying Stable Manure Each Time They Go]

Twilight

Ceremony Hall

[Old Man's Mask: Making It One's Face to Traverse the World]

On the Ice

[Abandon Doubt]

Electricians

[Pampas Grass Clinging to the Hill Ranges]

[With Undried Red Chalk]

[Glare from the Mire of Humus Soil]

Chūson-ji Temple [1]

Petitioning Delegation

[One-Year Alp Granite]

[Small Knit Salt Fish]

[Japan Bulb Company]

Kōshin (57th Zodiac)

Corvée Labor

[Merchants in Stifling Gloom Mock Me with Thistles]

Wind Depths

[Steeped in Snowmelt Waters]

Sick Technician [2]

[Western Bluish-White Temple Cavern]

Graduation Ceremony

[From Houses with Crimson Lamps]

Mother

Snow pants blackened—

The wind purifies over the mountains in all directions, / swirling—oh—the autumn white clouds.

That self would not desire melons—

Plucking crimson miscanthus ears as idle pastime—

Iwate Park

“Yonder,” said old Tapping, pointing his cane far away,
Far to the east, scattered—
the desolate silver makes no sound.
The rolling hills stand overgrown,
fading into dusk-blue like unripe apples,
as Tapping, the university student, lightly whistled a tune.

Old Miss Tapping: “Last year my elder sister was here—
“To a group of middle school students she taught the language of flowers.”
Dazzling under arc lights—
Swarms of winged insects gathered—
The green of the river and riverbank trees—
the town quietly dimmed into dusk.

Election

(How shall we secure twenty?) The one who dispatches the first nag—

(Securing five more votes without fail)—

(How fares the Taihei clan?) That horse—weak and mottled—

(Inau-begahaji-ubegahaji) quavering voices hang in the air

Cliffside Barber

An antique mirror stood apart from the light, keeping watch over customers' comings and goings.

The mute child snapped empty scissors.

The mirror reflected the cliff's brink where vines draped over Chisaki Shrine.

A crescent moon froze into silver curvature.

Frozen mud squelched thickly—

The branch manager stamped it from his clogs,

Winter entering through the glass door.

The barber technician lifted the shop curtain,
Adjusted his white garment,
And took up the apprentice's scissors.

Festival Day [1]

For the Tani Gongen Festival, white banners stood at the foothills,

On the hills that kept clustering together, the drumbeats' numbers grew chaotic.

Rice straw stacks with bluish-white glumes lingered at the water channel's edge,

They crisply sliced through the morning's clouded konnyaku.

Track Maintenance Workers

Fitted raccoon dog fur into their ears,
Interlaced their fingers around Chabrol bundles,

The shifting snow at the window reflected in yellow-tinged eyes.
A bird stood having shed its snow; since there were signs of his wife’s presence,
the pines layered the faintly smiling ephemera in the windy sky.

[The South Wind’s Cheek Turns Sour]

The south wind’s cheek turns sour;
Chevalier’s azure gleam.
The sky-soaring clouds’ Eleki—
come now, let us retrieve and revive it.

Taneyamagahara Plateau

Spring's early vermilion clouds—
Burned through alpine farmers' sweat,
Bound with rope and linden bark—
Wind and light made solemn pact.

Valleys eight embraced split oaks—
Stone steles clustered where they stood—

On Taneyamagahara Plateau—the burning fire's
Midst half-bound by clouds.

Polan's Plaza

The dusk plaza where pinks kindled their lamps
Exchanged songs of old Largos
They roiled the clouds—forgotten by the night wind
Harvest imminent—
The cooperative directors—straw cloaks
The Mountain Cat Doctor—river garments
Unbrewed sake cups—
Far off they circled—archers and scorpions

Itinerant Troupe

At the frost-white midday inn—
a clouded glass bottle of yellow sake shared between them
as they absently played tin flutes.

Withered soybeans piled high—
a swaybacked horse passing through—
wind fluttering the banner’s cloth
till shadows stamped themselves on shoji paper.

When one faintly clicked their tongue,
another gripped an aged leather satchel—
the black card’s surface curling back
as someone drew forth a desolate thing.

Then came a sharper tongue-click—
their leader turning eyes away—
while the musician feigned distraction
with a practiced throwing stance.

The musician of desolate silent pantomime adopted a throwing stance to divert attention.

Night.

They had labored and toiled until they could no longer endure the fever in both hands.

Gripping mostly black slate gravel tightly, they indeed dozed off.

Clinic

Tōhyō's spring remains cold, and the water pines have not yet begun to gleam blue.

The island's moss where water grows turbid,

Holding bottles from the wetland, three hesitate and enter—

As offerings are made to the Shennong statue, the scholar plucks butterbur stalks.

[Iodine's Jodhydrür Arrives]

Iodine's Jodhydrür arrives—Aogaiyama's Fumoto Valley,

On the desolate riverbed—a single kobushi magnolia burst into bloom.

Intending to enter Morobito Mountain, they waited here for dawn,

Some filed saw teeth, others chewed tobacco.

When the blue-tinged morning sun at this hour made smoke sway upward,

The trees burned with a soughing sound, shining with sorrowful intensity.

As embers crackled beneath their feet, the water's roar grew ever more desolate;

Though birds gathered now and then, no human presence remained.

The clouds deepened into sutra paper's indigo;

The treetops shimmered like mother-of-pearl inlay; they rattled and rolled into being.

Swaying their weary silver burdens, they emerged from Morobito Valley,

Here they gulped twice, then shouldered their hectic loads.

They came bearing meticulous provisions, tallying counts of tree buds,

Arui told them to bring five clumps of lilies to Grandmother Naga.

When at last night fell upon the tall trees, they exchanged words anew—

The people pressed through the pine-studded field and hastened toward the Wagi house.

[If they doze on the moss by the roadside]

If they dozed on the roadside moss,
the sun hung cold in the sky,

A faintly stagnant breeze in the hollow—as if near your cheek.

Magatsubi—here lies a mound," / the forest parts in alarm—

The wind lies distant in the empty sky, and the snow-clad peaks stand faintly pale.

[Carrying Melons from Two Mountains]

Carrying melons from Two Mountains,

As someone purchases Tanabata color paper, a red-haired lass clings in pursuit.

Beneath the azure celestial arc, the town revolves glitteringly.

Here where the river gathers, endless waves give rise to budding foam.

[Smoke at times over hill upon hill]

Smoke at times over hill upon hill—drifted bewildered through chestnut’s red leaves,

At times a yellow-tinged mistletoe flashed past the window.

(Ah, the sky’s hue of Turkish jade—in which distant heaven does it reside?)

(Not there nor here—we have only learned thus.)

(The Buddhist monks too speak of heavens passed down, enumerating thirty-three,

(When reaching the formless realms above, only light and thought are consumed.))

The sky’s light knew no bounds;
the daylight’s journey stretched endlessly far—
the maiden starved without recourse
and shook the rosary at her breast.
[In the distance, amber-hued]

In the distance taking on amber’s hue, this plain that appeared as spring—

The snowmelt water soaked the withered grass, chattering vigorously as it rushed onward.
At the peaks hung blue snow-smoke; at the foothills, oak leaves blazed red.
The snowmelt water sparkled and tumbled down single-mindedly.

Mindscape

Though you might not become the heart's teacher, never make the heart your master—
As if those age-old warnings still rang true, let this faithless heart remain as it will.

At first they lurked in the azure firmament—ah, the Goose King’s shadow offering!
Even faces that once shone bright beneath reverent gazes—now soured into loathsomeness—
mocked as starch heaps,

The snow clouds sliding down from the summit—they scorned them as rotten potatoes.

Portrait

Lamenting the morning tennis, their foreheads bore the snow-laden wind.

When they entered to inspect the ledger, their hands hung hazy with the scent of arsenic and sulfur.

暁眠

With faint fragments of frost, as the west wind came rustling through hinoki leaves,
a single yellow street lamp trembled weakly, about to fall.
That was the quivering-eyed visage of an old man, traversing the world as a mask,
that shabby counterfeit artisan—ah, the gate entwined with kifuji!
Sharaku kneaded and scraped mica, while smoke curled around Bashō’s statue,
though spring drew near indeed, the snow clouds loomed darkest of all.
The small lost shrine—at this gate where lights flickered,

Tomorrow's wind roars, yet people still seem to sleep futilely.

Drought

Clouds chained and swarmed in masses; forests stood wreathed in white smoke.

The birds fled en masse like incarnate calamity, scattering through the air.

Endless fields of drought-cracked paddies stretched beneath white barren ears of grain.

The household heads—bereft of remedy—stood vainly watching the wind.

Aged Guardian of Winter’s Peacock

When aged, they guarded winter’s peacock; cattail gaiters and leather robes,

In the garden plaza at two in the afternoon, the steam pipe’s stifled gasp remained faint.

Alternately dimming and flaring, the falling snow formed stripes,

That was none other than nearby cloud shadows crossing over the sun.

Elderly Farmers

When fire clouds swarmed and soared, their eyes dimmed and went vacant.

When the fire clouds gathered and departed, bundles of wheat glimmered, scattered in the distance.

Ukiyo-e

In the basement of the immaculate tower—when cherry blossom smoke adorned,

Father Pujet of the futile waves—did not bring forth the counterfeit Red Fuji.

In the sky where blue gemstones glittered—
they fixed crystalline eyes,

"Is this evil deed or glory?"—Hokusai’s snow that surpassed all.

Dental Clinic

In midsummer the plum branches turned green,
Ants crawled along windless windows,
Amidst the azure sky's reflection,
The drill wheel spun in earnest.
In pure garments made resplendent,
Reclining on a sofa,
When they could not fathom its bounds,
The magnetic storm startled their slender shoulders.

When the Snow on Withered Grass Melts

When the snow on the withered grass melted,
The foothills became like a dream.
In short mantles, shoulders thrown back,
Tax officials probed for unrefined sake,
The Hata brothers' horse traders
Adorned in nightingale hues,
Then there was the "Gloomy Wolf"—
Three hundred bearing epithets,
All gazed out in rapture.

Fallow Fields

All things were viewed with suspicion,
As the yellow jacket tore loose, chestnut blossoms began to fall.
When notified of an upcoming concert, they found themselves unable to emerge.
The pig too turned golden-haired; they galloped endlessly toward the western sun.

[Platinum Halo at Sky's Edge]

A platinum halo at the sky's edge encircled distant Minakami,
The great smokestack, after so long, emitted black smoke.
Smoke halted in sleet clouds; as they spread to shroud the gorge,
It was a spectacle of heavy industry; even the engineers emerged to gaze upward.

Early Spring

Black clouds swirled chaotically through the gorge; engineers drew near to lignite fires.

Truly what haunted the people—the azure gossan copper veins.

What I sought were words of truth,

A mantra within the rain.

Rairaiken

Zhejiang's Lin Guangwen radiantly widened his eyes,

Pointed at his disciple's foot and stood sternly without moving a muscle.

Crimped clouds ached in the west; a scant powder-snow drifted thickly,

The police's slate-gray uniforms darkened, and the sale flags stood desolate.

A fearsome dog entered—the pot bubbled furiously—

Lin Guangwen, forehead blue, stood rigidly without blinking.
As if frozen together, as if carved together,
He followed the snow-white town and defied the twilight clouds.

Rinkan Hall Grand Opening

Built up with tuff and planted cedars, six or seven lovely women alluring,
In the Southern Galaxy and wilderness's black, it opened window after window.

The artistic wall of light intensified further, a thousand lepidopterans and coleopterans,
Though orthopterans arrived, Koushi never came to visit.

Cobalt Mountains

From every lull in the blizzard,
from every rift in the white clouds at the edge,
the Cobalt Mountains' bare slopes—
their flicker ached and turned blue again.

Drought-Stricken Area

Most toiled under labor—their fingers split and brows darkened—

There stood a throng of studying children.

Though they spoke of flowers and dwarves, their brows stayed darkened as if carved.

They were children of the barren soil.

...In villages and prefectures—those children: two hundred became forty thousand.

Four hundred became ninety thousand...

When I gazed afar—that land where indigo dusk encroached upon clusters of pines—

Only the glimmering haze of snow

[When the Bell Is Struck, the Whitewood Hinoki Cypress]

When the bell was struck, the whitewood hinoki cypress; glowing clouds raced and mingled across the sky.

The frozen green savoy cabbages—
how fleeting the prefectural school inspector seemed.

Summit of Mount Hayachine

Asbestos veins lay lukewarm, moss-white crags jagged and raw—

The stone mirror ripened in silence; Brüllbel dew glistened.

Layered clouds massed in distant voids, neither east nor west having bounds—

The Cretaceous's ancient sea lingered here still, keening its timeless lament.

Social Affairs Director Mr. Tadashi Saeki

Clusters of shining magnolia blossoms—
snow piled whitely on catkin willows—
The wind blazed bright through this hamlet
as the warrior clutched tight without purpose.

When he drifted swollenly through
the water-pale Sunday—
the men appraising horses
fixed their gaze intently here.

Market Day

The Dantō-crossed Mikage Ridge—when it shifted, seemed so near.

In Jizō Bodhisattva's form—a child gnawing chestnuts,

her sister clutching striped burlap to her chest,

On the Dantō-crossing ridge—

rippled clouds hung low.

Abandoned Mine

Though spring approached the mines,
the shrine lay dilapidated, the sky choked with mist.

The office mess halls too uniformly became birds' roosts.
In snowmelt coursing down the road, he took out a rusted knife,
and after briefly inspecting it, desolately splashed through water.

Sideline

In the afternoon when rain beat down fiercely, they took baskets woven from blue sedge,
to feed silver-haired rabbits in this sideline venture promising vast profits.
As the rabbits multiplied at last, people's cheeks flushed crimson with vigor—
donning tortoiseshell-patterned rubber boots and green shirts alike.

Commemorative Photo

Students stood aligned on the platform,
Professors and associate professors all seated,
Appearing to invoke the cold wind's sacrament—

(Ah—the rainbow stands! Should it descend?)
(Ah—yonder seems to drizzle!)

...Ah—the rainbow stands! Should it descend?...
...Ah—yonder seems to drizzle...

The photographer inspected the platform,
Permitting none to lift their faces.

At that very moment—composed yet trembling—
The academic leader,
While the snow-scoured mountain dazzled the eyes,
Stood composed yet trembling, his body quaked.

...That effect—the reason for such a matter could not suddenly be inferred,

In full ceremonial regalia—to achieve such splendid effects—

In which land's literature could such things be well recorded…

Moreover, the skilled photographer’s large lens—opening for three seconds—

In each of a thousand pupils dwelled a morning rainbow.

Esoteric Rites Within the Pagoda

In fodder fields buried deep in snow,
Through cornfields the drifting snow rushed,
The threshing tower at the hill's foot
Was fiercely engulfed in roaring flames.

Kangi-ten passed through the sky—
From that blue window of heaven—
"What's this?" A woman laughed,
Her voice quivering like a squirrel's chattering creak.

[That in my path lies righteousness]

That in my path lies righteousness, I mocked my father's wrath,
Despised my mother's lament—
For this illness I had acquired—
My voice futilely gasped for breath.
Though spring had come, thrice each day,
When I washed sweat from my hands,
Only my form remained recorded—
I performed a vulgar penance.

Morning

In drought-cracked rice paddies, water now gurgled and murmured,

The dew upon evening primroses wilted in the slumbering wind.
Clad in sliding doors battered by demonic gusts, when children sang loudly,
scars of ancient slanders glowed with verdigris hues.

[Vulgar mockery yet bitterly cold]

Vulgar mockery yet bitterly cold—
trails blanched through endless cycles—
the heavens shifted with scales of fire.

A cold west wind arrived,
snatching secret incantations from the wilderness—
scattering millet's drooping ears,
setting pampas grass aglow crimson.

Row of Volcanic Necks

To the west were Hakoga and Dokugamori Forest—Wanko, Nanshō, Higashine’s,

Along an ancient row of volcanic necks—
Having finally reached Karakumiyako after arduous journey, Shibasue recounted his travels,
“Behind that hut stood the chill-veiled mountain—steadfast and true—

He fell silent after uttering merely "stood," then abruptly masked it with laughter,

He drank bitter tea in frequent gulps—that matter must indeed have been true.

Mountain, quiver with dawn's faint glimmer—cast off those lonesome clouds,

Make that snow ridge gleam, burn away the fields' sorrows entire.

Ailing Technician [I]

Tonight’s darkness was warm—
as if weeping in the wind,

He drew a counterfeit cane;
then drew a black cane too.

Distracting his corroded chest
by the water’s edge that murmured and flowed,

Illuminated by a dim carbon lamp,
famine memorial stones stood aligned.

Acid Rainbow

Countless times—the goose-yellow willows—
when he swept a window and stepped out,

The hollow-cheeked district governor
laughed at the acid rainbow.

Yanagisawa Field

Clouds spread over the scorched slope,
the stench of sea cucumbers pronounced.

Because the blue cypress grieved,
the horse was adorned with black algae.

Military Chain Drama

Kineorama—amidst agar-thick light—flung down a cigarette with finality,

Over the superior private's sleeve and across dawn's backdrop sky,
clouds went flying thick and fast.

At that moment,
the corner laundry shop shed tears utterly,

Before long,
their sparse tears dried up,
their narrowed eyes glinting,
and they adjusted
the black kite's collar.

Kyouya Early Spring

Yomigi River darkened,

Patchy snow smoldered quietly.

Two streaks of white sunlight—

The bamboo grass glimmered faintly alluring.

The grief of barrenness deepened once more,

Yearning for spring.

Clouds—dazzling ink and silver—passed over Haramitsu Mountain's pines.

Short Night

Pulling their stalls, they returned—
While they counted those passing moments,
the haze had shifted to pale green.
Coated in its own Berlin blue,
the village offered a desolate bitter smile;
beneath stone roofs cloaked in walnuts—
they entered, urging, “Now sleep!”

〔What Mingles Amidst the Mizunara Pines〕

“Amidst the mizunara pines blends the form of a crossword puzzle.”

Someone spoke gently—there was no reply but wind.

“The oak standing yonder grows verdant on one bough,
worthy even for the God of Bread.”
The voice pressed on impatiently:

“See how leafed cherries line that path—
their ranks adrift in icy clouds,
while green spheres show what permutations
the master meant to expound.”

Wind blew empty through still air;
the voice sighed its desolate breath.

“This time, regarding the prefecture’s incurred debts—it was not my fault.”

Sulfur

The fierce site manager—it was said their form remained absent this time too—

Around Motoyama, white clouds stagnated,

Beneath the azure morning sun that shone profoundly, the colt hung its head sweating,

Sulfur warped and groaned as it was loaded into that black freight car.

February

In Minakami, what suddenly flashed—had the lunar ridge already passed?

May even the bridge's lamp tremble and fall—how prematurely the south wind blew!

Ah, with Brahma's sacred host grown distant—spring arrived without solace.

Beneath the electric wires' clamor, gurgling water flowed.

Predawn

The school stood at the field's edge where barnyard grass and millet grew, bathed in the morning's yellow clouds.

Each shard of the school's glass glittered—some appeared hollow as voids.

Summit of Mount Iwate

At dawn on the somma's rim, breaths turned white as they vied to rise,

To the thirty-three stone deities they poured rice and dashed onward.

The clouds formed Watatsumi's caverns,

Ah, Kasuga's sacred belt—the multitude stood and worshipped.

In the Carriage [II]

The ridges of Ryōhori Mountain's crags—a single tree spun in midair.

The deep-eyed Hakuriku spread open his newspaper.

The horizon: snow and indigo pines; ice-clad were the seven showers,

The maiden of roses relaxed, taking out her ball of knitting wool.

Monster Worksite

In the guise of fishermen, swinging pickaxes in the mountain's shadow,

The Monster Worksite lay profoundly still, water welling forth in spring's lingering chill.

Because the gorge's smoke was dark, the mountain stood round and white,

Perhaps that was the sun—even the foreman gazed up bleakly.

Reclaimed Land Elevated

Kiyotaka, adorning white hair—is called Brogitt.

Pine-clad rocky crag and spring clouds—are reflected small in a glass.

As if Gemenegelage itself—the charred wood emits its sharp fragrance.

Striking his forehead, Kiyotaka—
again hears the bush warbler.

[Uguisujuku: On This Moonlit Night, Snow Falls]

Uguisujuku: On the nights of this month, snow seemed to fall.

Uguisujuku: on the nights of this month, snow seemed to fall; black clouds there merely churned wildly.

One of Nanatsumori's seven forests buried in snow; something approaches beneath the smoke.

One of the seven forests beneath the moon; faint creases gather in the snow there.

One at the edge of Nanatsumori's seven forests, receiving moonlight, carves out a lonely valley.

The third of the seven forests beneath the moon; sparse young pines stand clad in snow.

The second of the seven forests beneath the moon; that which cradles Orion and white clouds.

Two among Nanatsumori’s seven forests merge into one at their center; there lie traces where ore was mined.

One of Nanatsumori’s seven forests beneath the moon; its snow trails glistening white.

The third of Nanatsumori’s seven forests beneath the moon; glistening white undulations.

Three of Nanatsumori’s seven forests become one at their center; there spout myriad shell-peonies.

One at the edge of Nanatsumori’s seven forests beneath the moon; sharply white ridges stand defined.

At the edge of Nanatsumori’s ridged seven forests—that which stands—having completed its spin, shines truly bright.

Koushi

In the paulownia grove winter blossoms soaked deep, / clouds already began forging summer.

His body cleansed by heat's final ember hungered for you—sovereign of tender winds.

Yet that teacher commanded and declared: "Acquire the art of redaction."

Paulownia flowers blazed purple,

[Gong and Signboard Trombone]

Copper gong, signboard, trombone; / beneath solitary lamps' autumn wind,

Having finished his performance, Charline's child— / his shadow grew small as he rested.

The village children who couldn't enter— / perched on uncles' or fathers' shoulders,

Begging "Eat my chestnuts!" they came surging forth like swimmers racing.

[Of old Kōtō Teisai]

Old Kōtō Teisai’s stele hung low and covered,
The snow-covered maple in the dusk sky—its glow had grown eerily intimate.
Led in a dash, the village sparrows—momentarily spreading their wings—
As they sank through the sky in an instant—their wings spread wide—they vanished.

Nirvana Hall

With the crows' wingbeats heavy, the snow still showed no sign of ceasing.

The fire of my being still burned—
the hall was buried deep in silence.

The wind howled, the pines rustled;
once more birds flitted about.

Snow mountains and snow hills—
Five-ring pagodas beyond count.

Wild Horse [2]

Having mucked out the stable manure—the horse’s eyes transformed into crimson dragons,

Glittering blue vitreous orbs—

Fuukai flipped up his dark sedge-weave robe—

The cloud’s smoke signals resounded, and the magnolia flowers smoldered in haze.

Colossal Swine

On the day of Yorkshire copper, the Colossal Swine transformed into golden fur and dashed away—

Brandishing a stick, her hair aglow—

The Japanese village headman’s daughter exited the forest,

Whiskers munching messily as it devoured—hemp cloth smoldered blue.

Seizing Japan’s national tribute, chasing after the village headman it emerged—

She spread open her collar with a flap, flourished a paper fan.

The Colossal Swine tilted the day of Yorkshire copper like a spinning top,

As they spun, chestnut flowers fell; vanished the village headman’s daughter.

Vista

Peaks enwreathed in cloud rings pierced through Paleozoic strata,

The salt rock that had congealed in the Jurassic—it was known to have undergone serpentinization.

The blue sun glimmered distantly, while to the right spanned the plateau,

The era of granodiorite and denudation—

Pure white waves flowed endlessly—

Each having known different eras,

What the sandy soil received in the distance—

Diluvium terraces' clayey soils and loams—plant communities naturally differentiate.

Mountain Azaleas

Mountain azaleas across hill after hill—intermingling with chestnut and oak—bloomed proudly under the fierce sun.

What a dull crimson—the vermilion grown rustic and sour, blending into the red clay soil.

Come now, spread forth silver winds—
let them mingle with colorless winds—
for the children of this century's end.

Though one might speak of truth—mountain azaleas—
the sunlight dimmed, hills grew tepid,
and drowsy noon thus found its peace.

The light groaned—a subterranean rumble,

The light groaned—a subterranean rumble—clung furtively and pointed
to that owner of Takakou’s waterwheel mill, powder-coated in flour—
suddenly coughing, he bent double as water gurgled out—
leaving the walnut tree of night,
shoulders hunched timidly—
like an ancient marsh he walked away into the western gleam.

Land

Blue-green grassy mountains, mixed wood hills—
pine forests and bell-shaped rocks,

In every indiscernible fold of being,
White Clouds stagnated and gleamed.

Revering each stone-inscribed character—
those ancients had secretly buried

The Life Span relics now divinely aged,
settled upon the peak in sacred placement.

[Beyond the wall—Kakuji perhaps—]

Beyond the wall—Kakuji perhaps—
when someone plinked out a piano tune...

I. From the midst of crimson hinoki cypresses, spring's leaf clusters danced forth.

II. At Akatsuchi Pond they crouched—

The pitifully unskilled soprano trembled within the evening clouds,

The ash-scattering figure flickered, emerging from the paulownia field.

Four O'Clock

At that very hour—the old clock in Iwate Light Railway’s waiting room,
As the clock stumbled through striking four, the deputy mayor ceased smoking his tobacco.

At that very hour from the red hinoki cypress, agricultural students came dashing forth,

At the snow gentleman's face, they hurled pellets of snow.

At that very hour beyond the embankment—at the county office, assembly members,

Having approved the inspection matter, they clapped their hands with a brisk patter.

At that very hour, the aged janitor—bucket of pig feed in hand—

Beneath the agricultural school's windows, he passed by with trudging steps.

The Woolen Vendor

The one who swept Babylonian willows—the woolen vendor halting their steps,

Taking the bucket，they paused awhile，breathing deep of the south wind.

The Milky Way brewed its pale luminescence，night birds soared without end，

While faintly jingling coins，the person hauled up the water rope.

Twelfth Month

The fires of deep winter lifted Subaru high;
when the master slept with throat-clearing snores,
the waterwheel bore a thousand kilos of ice,
turning with a hollow clatter.

[Having kicked away the tengu mushroom]

Having kicked away the tengu mushroom:
"O master,
shall we not take breakfast here on this moss-covered mat?"

"...Pull taut."

"Pull taut now."

"+28!"

"Strike that mark and retrieve the tape!..."

In mountain clouds where soda seemed to bubble,
"O master,
in this rain, won't you give us our full measure?"

Cow

It was a single A-sha cow:
rubbing its horns against night's ground mist
and withered grass, it frolicked playfully.

The glow from the nitrogen factory's fires had scorched the stratocumulus layer crimson,

Beyond the dull sand dunes, the sea thrummed and quivered,

Be that as it may—even having supped still—one might yet sup upon brass...

Because of that moonlight,

The cow knocked against the fence with its horns and frolicked.

[Esoteric Buddhist Master] [II]

Esoteric Buddhist Master of Secret Nenbutsu: Motonobu-sai, with wife and children,
The south wind from Kitakami’s riverside—today he sowed the land’s ears of grain.
The sun ripened in purple clouds,
The river, being a river, flowed single-mindedly; /the Eight Merit Waters coursed onward.

By chance, that child stood agape, gazing at the poplar treetops.

Motonobu-sai gnashed his teeth and hurled a stone with a clack.

Flies swirling around the light, his wife held up prepared compost,

declaring him both benefactor and spiritual guide as she worshipped her husband.

[Carrying Stable Manure: That Time]

Carrying stable manure on that occasion—the alluvial layer hazed by midsummer—

at the newly cultivated field by the water’s edge, the comings and goings turned to noon.

Enamel clouds, birds’ voices—

In the hot and painful labor—memories of distant passions arose.

Twilight

Through nemu woods in full bloom—
rustling through as he leaned his weight,

Singing in a faint voice，Yoshikichi the slaughterman wandered.
From where did a crow’s tail feather flip over and swiftly fall，
Yellow clouds now declared they could endure no more—
Octavo retreated singing.
Ceremony hall.
They heaped thorns of icicle droplets
When the bell was rung，immediately the department head delivered his address.

[Elder's Mask: Passing Through Life with a Façade and Such]

Passing through life with an elder's mask as my facade—in those very moments of deceiving others,
the darkness grew dim and exhausted—I stood at thirty's midpoint,
having become a Kinnara mask.

On the Ice

When the moon’s dalliance turned fragrant,
the ice grew keenly clear here and there, clamorous with chatter.
The students of Meiji Women’s School ran shouting through the town,
white high-hung lanterns lined up.

And then he abruptly appeared—single-mindedly sliding backward—the black-haired, closely-shaven General Affairs Section Chief.

The extinct volcanoes' snows in rows gleamed blue,
like the death wax of noblemen,
as star spiders came and wove their webs.

[Cease Your Doubting]

Cease your doubting—the woods stand cold,
Where meager snow has frozen solid—
Stand tall, chest thrust forward,
Blue cedar needles scattering down as crows shriek overhead.

Breathe deep from heaven's core,
While crows mass and clash below,
Ice mist cascades in crystalline showers.

Electrician

(The upright clock’s gears ground stubbornly; eyes tempered in hatred glared fiercely.)

He scaled the electric pylon nevertheless—kobushi magnolias bloomed thickly on all sides.

As the south wind wove nets of light—

Mingling amidst grass fires—their hooves hazed like smoke.

〔Hills Where Pampas Grass Clings〕

Over hills where pampas grass clung—
A south wind suddenly swept across—
The hollows abruptly spewed cold vortices
That took form like ancient Minerva's ruins—
In gaiters and cheek-muffler paused Yoshikichi
Ceased carrying miscanthus buds
And stood transfixed with eerie mien—
[With undried red chalk]
With undried red chalk erasing words
The vice principal breathed vacantly
Through spectacles at black-roofing clouds—

Because of their desolate diversions—
the pale-faced Zenkichi and his companions
gazed up at June’s radiant sky—
voiceless and wretched.

[The Glare from the Mire of Humus Soil]

The glare from the mud of humus soil; tiny stalls atop stacked lumber.

In the glare from the mud of humus soil, many two-cent mirrors were arrayed.

In the glare from the mud of humus soil, a squinting child stood alone.

Holding a well-cleaned lamp, the station worker strode through the humus mud.

The wind blew, and across every plaza the pooled water rippled and murmured.

What was this—red trousers and fur? A line of log-floating folk passed by in spring.

The log floaters spoke insolently in haughty tones and passed by shouldering their logging poles.

The procession passed and again the wind blew across the mire's puddles; under the white western sun, they rippled and murmured.

When a fair-faced woman came from Nishine, eyes gleamed at the corner inn.

The squinting child with a closely shaven forehead kept standing and eating chestnuts.

In the glare from the mire of humus soil, the two-cent mirrors went unsold.

Chūson-ji Temple [Part 1]

Upon the seven-tiered reliquary pagoda—lo, green phosphorescence forms a canopy.

The great thief, clad in silver plates—when first he kneels to worship,

The ochre eyes merely round—

Untouchable cross agleam—

Petitioners

Though four o'clock was nearly upon them, the household head still had not been released;
The outer face swarmed with winter crows; one flank of the mountain glittered.
Two crows clashed and—swiftly plummeted into the cedar grove;
At this moment the atmosphere reached saturation; the fog crystallized into ice.

[One-year-old Alps granite]

One-year-old Alps granite—

(The mountains all erupted hot water!) A lone child with russet hair.

"(We shall all become lords)"—the sound of chisels in Minakami.

Crossing the toad-infested path—the muddy valley's smoke hung white.

[Small Knit Salted Fish]

Small knit-salted fish,
seaweed flower sweets, cuttlefish brains—
The crimped clouds had grown heavy,
The wind roared fiercely as the year waned.

"How fleeting!" he pondered the twilight—
Still sunk deep in thought—

Filling the streets and wandering lost—
The village heads of the barren village.

[Japan Bulb Company]

When the Japan Bulb Company marketed them as fine products,

The laborers at every window prayed that spring would come.

All through the night in warm spring rain, sixteen hyacinth flowers

Burst forth like black grapes,

Their droplets gleaming as they clustered.

Taking the form of true demons—for their hue was far too dark—

The dawn's glow reflected on each and every window;

Turkeys wandered about, gobbling and squabbling,

The little nurse came to the window and wondered in bewilderment what that could possibly be.

Kōshin

When they tally seven times and five—when Kōshin days accumulate—

Fearing a barren autumn, the village heads buried the mounds.

Because their eyes were eroded by sweat, the number of fiery links in the Pleiades' chain—

There being seven and five was naught but—they gazed up as a single cloud.

Corvée Labor

Countless times from snow-laden peaks,
winds came crashing down azure,
making sprouting oaks rumble,
the lord's shadow-gate groan.

Alone with just my shadow -
this being that very task they name -
all day through bleached eyes
we mended pasture fences.

[Merchants stifled in darkness mock me]

Merchants stifling in darkness mock me,

The river resounds through distant gorges.

In white sky’s tangled vines wrens weave rain,

Through black sugar barrels’ shadows steals a daylit cat.

This village veiled in sickness and shame,

The coldly probing spring wind.

Wind’s Depths

Snow-smoke flashes past—

Wiping sweat for just a breath,

The clock wrapped in cloth trembles rill-rill,

[Steeped in snowmelt water]

Steeped in snowmelt water,

Wearing a dog's pelt, all alone—one who walked through ultraviolet rays.

Roaring with light, the snowmelt rounded the broken edge of the embankment,

Leaping like a rabbit—that must have been the herdsman with those ears.

Ailing Technician (II)

When he came panting to the hill's expanse, gazing upon the weather ring at the horizon,
the maidens made white handkerchiefs into grass and stared in bewilderment.
Though he asked about the path to the great temple, the landscape only shrugged its shoulders in silence—
_Do I already bear death's mark?_ he wondered, gazing at clouds steeped in austere chill.

[The Western Bluish-White Hollow Cavern]

The western bluish-white hollow cavern, should it emit a cluster of steam,

The steam spread out to form a ring and crossed over the snowy mountain.

Intending to create wasabi fields here, they set to work on the withered grassland,

If someone smoked tobacco by this spring, it just rumbled and roared.

Those things harmful to wasabi fields—first: wild horses; second: crabs,

Third: inspections; fourth: taxes; fifth: Taiko's Sake Shop.

The cloud shadows that had crossed over the mountains slid idly down the snow,

Eventually crossing the indigo pines clustered thickly, and passing over the tiger’s mottled forms.

Graduation Ceremony

Ritual trays or water pitchers and such—no matter how many times they were likened to red and white,

Though they bore them to sweet sediment, until the bell tolled they would not let them parch,

The half-width cloth fastened at the nape resembled that of Priest Jichin.

[From the Houses of the Crimson-Lit Town]

From crimson-lit town houses came deceitful telephone calls,
(That child sold from seaside) quivering white hinoki wood.
Misting low through mulberry groves' clustered shadows,
Ah—the dulled double-layered mantle—copperplate fragments I recalled.